Wire and cable dispensing container and systems

ABSTRACT

A container for the dispensing of wire or cable has an external carton which receives a reel of cable supported by two caddies. Each caddy has an inwardly extending substantially cylindrical bushing which is received in a central hole of a respective cable reel flange. The cylindrical bushings are disposed on an axis which is a first distance from an upper surface of a bottom panel of the carton. The largest radius of the reel flanges is preselected to be smaller than this first distance such that the reel may freely rotate inside of the carton on the bushings. Cable is pulled through a slot in the carton&#39;s front panel. Left and right panels of the carton each have an arbor hole formed therein which may receive an axial rod, the rod also extending through the reel and caddies. The axial rod may be used to join two or more cartons together and may further serve as a support for attachment to a dolly, hand truck, or four-wheeled cart. In one embodiment, cable may be pulled through one or more pass-through slots formed in the tops and bottoms of stacked containers, such that cable from multiple containers is drawn through one slot on the top of the stack.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/103,790, the specification and drawings of which are fullyincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wire and cable for installation in residences and buildings typicallycomes on cable reels. The types of wire and cable so provided arenumerous, and include 110V three-conductor wire, “Romex”, and manydifferent kinds of low-voltage, multiconductor insulated communicationscable, such as that used for setting up Ethernet networks, intercomsystems, entertainment systems and the connection of security sensorsand devices. A new building under construction will need many kinds ofthese cables, and several reels of cable will be used by an installeron-site.

One known technique is to provide coils of such cable in boxes, and tocreate a hole in a front or top panel of the (typically cardboard) boxfor pulling out a desired length of cable. This conventional method hasa drawback in that the cable may kink inside of the box or otherwiseresist being pulled out of the box to such an extent that a cableinstaller or technician finds that he or she is pulling the box acrossthe floor. Oftentimes the installer has to install several differentlengths of cable on a single run. To do this, the installer has had toidentify which kinds of cable he or she needs, individually pull cableout of separate boxes and estimate as best as he or she can the amountof cable so pulled.

These boxes of cable are heavy and it takes some effort to move themaround. In complex jobs it is easy for one needed box of cable to becomephysically dissociated from one or more other boxes of cable that willsupply lengths of different cable for the same run. A need thereforepersists for more efficient methods and apparatus for dispensing cable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention provides a container for the dispensing ofcable wound on a cable reel. The container includes a carton having abottom, left and right panels. A left caddy is disposed in the cartonadjacent an interior surface of the left carton panel. A right caddy isdisposed in the carton adjacent an interior surface of the right panel.Each of the caddies has a substantially cylindrical bushing surfacewhich extends inwardly along an axis. The axis is parallel to the bottompanel and is disposed at a predetermined first distance therefrom.

The caddies support therebetween a cable reel having a left flange, aright flange and central holes in each. The central flange holes of thecable reel are sized to receive the bushing surfaces of the caddies. Thereel flanges have radii which are less than the first distance,permitting the reel of cable to freely rotate inside the carton.Preferably, the front panel of the carton has an elongated slot formedtherein to be parallel to the axis, so as to permit the dispensing ordrawing out of a length of cable from the reel.

Containers according to the invention may be assembled together to formmobile multiple cable dispensing units or vehicles, from which lengthsof several different cables may be withdrawn at the same time. In aid ofthis each carton preferably has arbor holes in its left and right panelsformed on the axis. The left and right caddies of each containerlikewise have central holes, and a central passageway of the cable reelcommunicates its central flange holes. Together these holes and reelpassageway form an axial passage sized to receive therethrough an axialsupport rod. Two, three or more cable reel containers are abuttedtogether side by side such that their arbor holes are in axialalignment. An axial support rod, preselected to have a length a littlelonger than combined lengths of the containers, is inserted through allof them. A wheel truck is affixed to one end of the support rod and ahandle is affixed to the other, thereby forming a single unit which maybe conveniently wheeled from place to place by a cable installer.

The present invention further provides, as an alternative to theforegoing mobile unit, a cart in which at least two rows of reelcontainers can be placed, wherein each row of containers is supportedand joined together by means of a respective axial support rod. The carthas front and rear ends each having a rod holder that receives ends ofthe support rods. When not in use, the cart may be broken down into astorage configuration by removing the support rods, vertical support rodholders and preferably an upstanding handle, and installing these instorage locations in the frame bottom, all without using tools.

In yet a further embodiment, there is provided a vehicle, such as adolly or hand truck, which permits cable from several vertically stackedcartons to be pulled upward from a single carton orifice. A carton isprovided in this embodiment which includes bottom and top cutoutspass-through slots such that cable from one carton can be passedcompletely through at least one carton on top of it.

The present invention permits the easy withdrawal of a length of cablefrom the cable payout slot formed in the front panel of the carton. Whenthe containers are assembled together in at least one row, an installermay withdraw lengths of cable from each of several containers at once.The heavier reaction mass of the assembled containers permits theinstaller to pull the cable(s) with more tension, as there will be lessof a tendency of the assembled unit (or cart) to move in the directionof pull. When different kinds of cable are to be installed in a run inwhich the cables will all be of the same length, the present inventionpermits the installer to withdraw the same length of these differentkinds of cable from different containers in the unit or cart, all at thesame time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further aspects of the invention and their advantages can be discernedin the following detailed description, in which like characters denotelike parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a single container or carton according tothe invention, in which an outer carton wall is shown in phantom toreveal internal components;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a cable reel and support caddies used inthe container shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a detail of FIG. 2 showing a preferred caddy bushing;

FIG. 3 is an exploded isometric view of a first mobile cable dispensingsystem according to the invention, made up in part of cartons similar tothose shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIGS. 4A-4D are variations on the system shown in FIG. 3, in which thesize and number of joined cartons is varied;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a second mobile cable dispensing systemaccording to the invention, as including a cart;

FIG. 6 is a rear end view of the cart shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a detail of the front of the cart shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7A is a detail sectional view taken substantially along line 7A-7Aof FIG. 7;

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of the cart shown in FIG. 5, in a folded or“broken down” condition in which it can be easily transported or stored;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of two stacked cartons according to anfurther embodiment of the invention, showing the function of verticalcable pass-through;

FIG. 10 is an isometric view of two-wheeled hand truck or dolly for usewith the cartons shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an exploded isometric view of the hand truck shown in FIG.10, showing the loading of a single stack of cartons; and

FIG. 12 is an isometric view from another angle of the hand truck shownin FIG. 10, as shown with two stacks of cartons.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a cable reel carton indicated generally at 10, whichin turn forms the exterior components of a cable reel container 11.Carton 10 is preferably formed of a single sheet of corrugated cardboardand includes a front panel 12 having a bottom side 14, a left side 16, atop side 18 and a right side 20. The front panel 12 preferably has, in alower portion thereof, an elongate die-cut cable dispensing or payoutslot 22 through which cable or wire may be pulled. The slot 22 iselongate in a direction parallel to a cable reel axis X and is longenough to permit cable to come off the reel at right angles to the reelaxis and through the slot 22, no matter where on the reel the cable ispresently being unspooled. Preferably the length of the slot 22 isselected to be at least roughly the same as the distance between theinternal surfaces of the two cable reel flanges (described below).

Carton 10 also includes a left panel 24 which extends rearwardly fromside 16 and at right angles to the front panel 12, and a top panel 26which extends rearwardly from top side 18 and at right angles to thefront panel 12 and left panel 24. The carton 10 is completed by a bottompanel 27, a rear panel 29 and a right panel 31, the last of which is amirror image of the left panel 24. An arbor hole 28 is formed in leftpanel 24 around the horizontal axis X, axis X being a predetermineddistance h from an upper surface of the carton bottom panel 27. Thecable payout slot 22 is preferably positioned well below the axis X inorder to better approximate the point of departure of the cable from thereel, which will be at some nonzero radius from the axis X.Alternatively the cable payout or dispensing slot 22 could be positionedabove axis X. Payout slot 22 may be defined by a closed line ofperforations in corrugated cardboard front panel 12. In this instance,container 11 would be shipped with the payout slot 22 closed. At theinstallation site, the installer would open slot 22 by punching out theperforation.

Conveniently, handholes 34 may be die-cut into the cardboard panels 12,26, 29 for ease in handling. In alternative embodiments the cable payoutslot 22 can be repeated in top panel 26 and/or rear panel 29, so as togive the user some flexibility in arranging the cartons in the mobileunit or on the cart (later described) and some ability to select how thecable will exit the carton 10. An embodiment in which the carton haselongate pass-through slots in both the top and bottom panels isdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 9.

The interior components of container 11 are shown in exploded view inFIG. 2. A preferably spoked left caddy 200 is, in use, disposedinteriorly adjacent an inner surface of the left carton panel 24. Caddy200 may be injection-molded from a tough plastic that at the least iscapable of suspending half of the weight of a full cable reel 202without buckling. A right caddy 204 can be formed from the same mold asthe one which makes left caddy 200. In use, the right caddy or reelsupport member 204 is positioned interiorly adjacent an inner surface ofthe right carton panel 31.

As best seen in FIG. 2A, each caddy 200, 204 has a substantiallycylindrical bushing 206 which extends axially from a general plane inwhich the remainder of caddy 200, 204 is formed toward the other caddy.The bushing 206 could be formed from a surface of rotation other than astraight cylinder; it could, for example, have a terminal lip ofincreased radius that would run in an annular groove (not shown) in thereel flange central hole 208. Such a departure from a straight cylindercould allow the caddies 200, 204 to be snapped to the cable reel 202. Inthe illustrated embodiment the bushing surface 206 is slightly taperedtoward its free end and has a terminal curved or rounded surface. Forthe purpose of defining the surface of bushing 206 as “substantiallycylindrical”, these departures from a perfect mathematical cylinder areto be included in the definition. The taper and terminal curved orrounded surface aid in registering the bushing 206 within the reelflange central holes 208.

Since caddies 200, 204 are preferably molded of a hard plastic, thesurfaces of bushings 206 tend to have a low amount of friction and canbe used without augmentation. In alternative embodiments, the bushings206 can be either coated or sleeved to present surfaces which have aneven lower coefficient of friction relative to the cable reel which isrotatably mounted between them. On the other hand, some resistance torotation of the reel 202 around axis X is desirable, as this mitigatesagainst the spinning of the reel 202 in the absence of tension on thecable being withdrawn. Were reel 202 to continue to spin a long timewithout such tension, the cable 220 could spool off of the reel 202inside of the carton 10.

The caddies or cable reel support members 200, 204 have bodies whichgenerally conform in two dimensions to the interior of the carton 10into which they are designed to be placed, and in general will be ofslightly smaller dimension than, but will conform to the shape of, leftbox panel 24 and right box panel 31. To save weight it is preferred thatthe caddies 200, 204 be spoked instead of be solid plates. The caddies200, 204 suspend between them a reel 202 of cable that can weigh manydozens of pounds. Accordingly it is preferred that each caddy 200, 204have a horizontal base member 210 which is meant to rest on an uppersurface of bottom carton panel 27. A central, vertically oriented spoke212 can be formed to extend from the base member 210 to a centralportion 214, from which in turn bushing 206 extends. The spokes 212 willbear most of the weight of the reel 202. Preferably each caddy has a toprail or horizontal member 215 which in use is disposed adjacent aninternal surface of top panel 26 of the carton 10. The top rail 215 canin turn be supported by side rails 217 and angled spokes 219. The toprail 215 is useful in accepting a columnar load imposed by other reelcontainers 11 placed on top of the particular reel container 11 of whichthe caddies 200, 204 are a part. Such container stacking occurs in theuse of the cart illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 and described below, andalso in the embodiment discussed in conjunction with FIGS. 9-12. In oneembodiment (not shown) the spoke 212 is duplicated in a vertical spokecollinear with it which extends from axis X to the top rail 215.

Preferably the panels of carton 10, the caddies 200, 204, the cable reel202 and the bushings 206 are so sized that the carton interior preventsthe reel 202 from coming off of the bushings 206. The carton 10 willhave an internal length L in between the internal surfaces of sidepanels 24 and 31. Most of the distance L will be occupied by the reel202, which has a predetermined length R between external surfaces of thereel flanges 222, 224. Each caddy 200, 204 will have a general bodythickness T. The bushings 206 extend inwardly from the general interiorsurfaces of the caddies 200, 204 by a distance D. Preferably, thedimensions of these components are selected such that 2T+R is slightlyless than L. On the other hand, 2T+R+2D should be somewhat greater thanL, such that the cable reel 202 is forced to ride on the bushings 206while the caddies 200, 204 and the reel 202 are inside of the carton 10.This dimensioning would not be necessary in those embodiments in whichthe caddies are snapped or otherwise affixed to the reel 202 prior tothe insertion of all three components into a carton or box 10. Further,there will be variations in reel lengths according to the amount andkind of cable wound thereon. In at least many cases, the caddies 200,204 will be used in many different carton sizes, so that dimension L ofthe carton 10 should closely follow cable reel length R.

The cable reel 202 is preselected to have a flange radius r which issmaller than axis height h. This will ensure that the reel 202 canrotate freely inside of carton 10 on bushings 206.

Each caddy 200, 204 has a central hole 216 sized to receive an axialsupport rod (later described) therethrough. Each reel 202 has an axialpassageway 221 that joins together reel flange central holes 208.Conveniently this axial passageway 221 can be formed by an interiorvolume of a tube which also bears the wound cable 220 on its exteriorsurface. As assembled and in the condition shown in FIG. 1, each carton10 therefore has a free passageway all the way along axis X from oneside of the box 10 to the other, including a left arbor hole 28, centralhole 216 in caddy 200, central hole 208 in left cable reel flange 222, acentral passageway between left cable reel flange 222 and right cablereel flange 224, a central hole 216 in right caddy 204, and an arborhole 28 in the right carton panel 31.

In many instances a user or installer will wish to pull the same lengthof different kinds of cable at the same time, usually to be installedalong the same run. FIG. 3 illustrates a first cart or vehicle 300 whichmakes this very convenient to do. The center or backbone of the cart 300is made up by a rigid support rod or pipe 302 that can be formed oftubular steel and in any event is strong enough to withstand bucklingwhen supporting a hundred pounds or more of weight. The support rod 302is threaded through the arbor holes 28, central caddy holes 216 andreels 202 of each of a plurality of cartons 10, 304 and 306 (three shownin FIG. 3). The unit 300 can be formed of containers having differentlengths in an axial direction. The length of the axial rod 302 used ispreselected to be a little longer than the combined exterior axiallength of cartons 10, 304 and 306, which are arranged along rod 302 toabut each other and preferably to present front faces or panels 12 inthe same direction (although one or more could be reversed). After theuser or cable supplier selects cartons 10, 304, 306 which are to becombined, they can be taped together with tape 305 or the like to betterunify them such that they will not rotate around axis X independently ofeach other.

A base end 308 of the rod 302 is preferably threaded and is receivedinto a hole 310 in a wheel truck or base 312. An upstanding panel 314 ofthe wheel truck 312 is affixed between a left panel 24 of an end carton10 and a cap 316, which screws onto the base end 308 of the rod 302. Inan alternative embodiment (not shown), rod 312 may have opposed holesdrilled through the sidewall of rod 302, at right angles to andintersecting rod 302's axis, near base end 308. These holes wouldreceive a cotter pin or clevis of the kind described elsewhere herein.The wheel truck 312, which conveniently can be fabricated of a singlepiece of sheet steel, further has at least one horizontal panel 317 (inthe illustrated embodiment, there are two such panels 317 and 318) whichreceive a lower left corner 323 of the leftmost carton 10. Separatecasters 320, 322 may be affixed by welding or riveting to lower surfacesof the horizontal panels 317 and 318. Once carton 10 has been receivedby horizontal panels 317 and 318, the three cartons 10, 304 and 306 willbe prevented from rotating around axis X.

A front end 324 of the axial rod 302 is fitted with or formed to have anell 326 which may be internally threaded. The ell 326 threadably acceptsa vertical member 328 of a handle 330 which may have a horizontal member332 at its top end. After assembly, an installer can move unit 300 fromplace to place by pulling up on handle 330. Half of the weight of theunit 300 will be borne by wheel truck 312. The installer may set downthe unit 300 such that axial rod 302 is at about right angles to thedirection of cable pull. Casters 320, which preferably are of thenonturning type (that is, they stay in alignment with axis X), and theforward corner 334 of carton 306 will exhibit enough friction with thefloor surface that the unit 300 will resist being drawn in the directionof the cable pull.

FIGS. 4A-4D show variations on how integrated mobile multicontainerunits 400, 402, 404 and 406 may be assembled. Unit 400 is composed ofjust two containers 408, 410. The containers 408 and 410 may be ofdifferent lengths, as would be the case where cable of smaller length orthickness was being stored in container 410 than in container 408. Arelatively short axial support rod 412 is selected for assembling theunit 400. In contrast, unit 402 (FIG. 4B) is assembled from four reelcontainers 414-420 and a longer axial support rod 422. A five-containerunit 404 is shown in FIG. 4C, as composed of containers 424-432 and aneven longer axial support rod 434. FIG. 4D shows a unit 406 in whichcontainers 436-440 are assembled together as supported by axial supportrod 446, while additional containers 442, 444 are mounted on top ofcontainers 436-440.

FIGS. 5-8 show a four-wheeled cart 500 to which containers 502-520 canbe mounted in up to three parallel rows, one each for respective axialsupport rods 522, 524 and 526. The support rods 522-526 are preferablyparallel to but vertically spaced apart from each other so as to each becoaxial with a respective row of containers through which they areinserted. FIG. 5 shows cart 500 in a use configuration; when not in useit may be collapsed to a storage configuration, as explained inconjunction with FIG. 8. The cart 500 is built on an elongaterectangular frame 528 which has a bottom plate 530, left and right sidepanels or plates 532 and 534 which extend upwardly from the longitudinaledges of bottom panel 530 and which are preferably orthogonal to panel530, and front and rear panels 536 and 538 which extend upwardly fromthe transverse edges of bottom panel 530 and preferably are orthogonalto plates 530-534 and parallel to each other. Panels 530-538 can beformed from a single blank of sheet steel and together form a shallowbox sized to receive the first row of reel containers 502-508. Theheight of left side panel 532 is chosen to be somewhat less than theheight of cable payout slots 22 above the bottom panels of thecontainers 502-508, such that the cables being withdrawn from slots 22will not be occluded or abraded by the side panel 532. The height ofright side panel 534 can be preselected to be taller than this, or canbe the same height, in case that the installer chooses to face the slots22 (or even just some of them) the opposite way.

A vertical, elongate, preferably flat front support rod holder 540 canhave its lower end 542 affixed as by riveting or welding to front panel536. The front support rod holder more preferably is affixed to thefront panel 536 by flat-headed studs 543 formed to extend from a frontflat surface of holder 540 and keyed slots 545 formed in panel 536 whichhave top openings sized and shaped to receive therethrough a head of arespective stud 543, and a slot depending from this opening whichaccepts only a shaft of the stud 543. Other user-operable fasteners suchas pins or nuts and bolts could alternatively be employed. As assembledto cart 500, the front support rod holder 540 extends upwardly from thefront panel 536 at least beyond the horizontal level of the third andhighest support rod 526. Holes 544, 546, 548 are made in support rodholder 540 to be sized and positioned to slidably receive ends ofrespective ones of the axial support rods 522, 524, 526. The supportrods 522-526 are preferably straight and have through-holes drilledthrough their sidewalls near their ends, so as to received clevis pins(not shown; see FIG. 8) after insertion of the rods through respectiveholder holes 544-548. In an alternative embodiment (not shown); see FIG.3) the rods are threaded on the ends, so as to threadably receive femalethreaded caps after insertion through respective holder holes 544-548.

Similarly, in a use configuration a vertical elongate rear support rodholder 600 (FIG. 6) has a lower end 602 affixed to rear plate 538 as byriveting, welding or (preferably) user-operable fasteners such as studs543 received into respective keyed slots 545. The rear support rodholder extends upwardly from the rear panel 538 at least beyond thehorizontal level of the third support rod 526. Holes 604, 606 and 608are made in support rod holder 600 and are sized and positioned toslidably receive rear ends of the respective ones of the axial supportrods 522, 524 and 526. Clevis pins (not shown; see FIG. 8) may beinserted through diametrically opposed holes drilled in the sidewalls ofthe rods near their ends in order to fasten the rods in place.Alternatively caps (not shown; see representative cap 316 in FIG. 3) maybe threaded onto the (in this instance, threaded) rear ends of thesupport rods 522-526 so as to secure the reel containers 502-520 betweenrod holders 540 and 600.

In a preferred embodiment, the front panel 536 and the rear panel 538extend upwardly beyond the level of the lowest axial support rod 522.Holes 551, 650 are made in the front and rear panels 536, 538 toslidably receive therethrough the axial support rod 522. Extending thefront and rear panels 536, 538 upwardly in this manner obviates anytransverse deflection of the support rod holders 540, 600 at thisheight, and enhances the resistance to such deflection at locationshigher up on the support rod holders 540, 600. The upward extension offront and rear panels 536, 538 also permits the formation of holes 551,650 therein to receive the lowest support rod 522 therethrough while thecart 500 is in a storage configuration, as will be hereinafterdescribed.

The bottom panel 530 of the cart 500 has affixed thereto, as by rivetingor welding, two front casters 550 which turn on their vertical axes, andtwo rear casters 552 which don't. In one embodiment some or all of thecasters 550-552 may be of the type which are equipped with foot-actuatedbrakes (not shown), so that the cart 500 may be parked in one place.

At the front corner of left panel 532 and front panel 536 there isprovided a left socket 554, which may be joined to left panel 532 andfront panel 536 by welding. Similarly, at the front corner of rightpanel 532 and front panel 536 there is provided a right socket 556.Sockets 554 and 556 are vertical cylindrical sleeves meant to slidablyreceive respective left and right legs 558, 560 of a handle 562.

As shown in the detail of FIG. 7, the left and right legs 558, 560 ofthe handle 562 can be affixed to respective sockets 554, 556 by means ofcotter or clevis pins 700, 702. A shaft of each clevis pin 700, 702 isinserted into a hole in a respective socket 554 or 556, a hole in arespective handle leg 558, 560, a hole in the opposite wall of handleleg 558 or 560 (which conveniently can be formed of tubular steel), andfinally through an inboard hole in a respective socket 554 or 556.Another, curved leg of each clevis pin 700, 702 meanwhile fits aroundthe curved external surface of socket 554 or 556, thereby locking thepin 700 or 702 in place.

FIG. 7 also provides a close-up view of left and right storage holes704, 706 which are not used when the cart 500 is loaded with cartons,but which are used to receive ends of support rods 524, 526 when thecart 500 is being separately transported or stored.

FIG. 8 shows cart 500 in a “knocked down” condition. The support rodholders 540, 600 are stored on the left and right sides of the cartinterior. Keyed storage slots 800 are formed in sides 532, 534 so as toreceive studs 543 of the support rod holders 540, 600, affixing them inplace in a storage configuration. Support rods 526, 528 are threadedthrough storage holes 704, 706, and like storage holes in the rear panel538, and affixed in place as by means of cotter or clevis pins, so theydon't slide out. The legs 558, 560 of cart handle 562 are removed fromrespective sockets 554, 556 and laid into the interior of the cart 500.The lowest support rod 522 is reattached in the same position that ittakes when cartons are mounted to it, but is now used as a handle tocarry the cart 500.

Returning to FIGS. 5 and 6, cart 500 permits the stacking of containers502-520 three rows high, and in alternative embodiments (not shown) afourth or even more rows could be added, as long as the entire cart 500is not in danger of tipping over. The containers 502-520 have a lesseneddanger of tipping over when cable is pulled from them than theyotherwise would, as during a cable pull the cable is being pulled off ofrotating spools 202 internal to the cartons 502-520. The rotation ofspools in the cartons 502-520 around their respective axes relieves mostof the tension caused by pulling the cables, and as such the shear forceexperienced by the whole structure will be less than it otherwise wouldbe. The combination of the cart 500 and the containers 502-520 create awall or two-dimensional array of reels from which cable may be pulled.

In use, the installer installs one, two or three rows of containers502-520 on cart 500, employing one, two or three axial support rods522-526. If only one row of containers 502-508 is to be used, thesupport rod holders 540 and 600 aren't necessary and don't have to beinstalled. Otherwise the support rod holders 540 and 600 are bolted onor otherwise fastened to the front and rear plates 536 and 538,preferably in advance of loading a first row of reel containers 502-508onto the bottom plate 530. The lowest support rod 522 is then threadedthrough plate 536, support rod holder 540, containers 502-508, rearplate 538 and rear support rod holder 600, and is fastened in place bymeans of threaded end caps (not shown) or clevis pins. Then, a secondrow of containers 510-514 is installed in a similar manner, using secondsupport rod 524. If needed, a third row of containers 516-520 isinstalled using third support rod 526. Legs 558, 560 of the handle 562are then installed in respective sleeves 554 and 556.

The cart 500 is then rolled to a desired location and is parked (as bysetting its caster brakes) such that its long axis (and therefore theaxes of the support rods) is at a substantial angle (such as a rightangle) to the direction of cable pull. The combined mass of cart 500 andits payload provides a massive anchor against which cable can be pulledout of containers 502-520 through slots 22.

FIGS. 9-12 depict an embodiment permitting the dispensing of cable fromeach reel in a vertical stack of containers 900A, 900B. Each container900A,B is like container 10 (FIG. 1) in most respects and each suchcontainer 900A, 900B houses a reel 202A, 202B of cable as supported byreel caddies or mounting plates (omitted from FIGS. 9-12 for clarity).Each container 900A,B has an arbor hole 28A or 28B in each of its sidepanels and a clear passageway between them, as before. Each container900A,B further has a front panel cable dispensing slot 22.

The containers 900A,B are different from containers 10 in that eachadditionally has an elongate top pass-through slot 902A or 902B in a toppanel 904 thereof, and an elongate bottom pass-through slot 906A, 906Bin a bottom panel 908 thereof. The top pass-through slot 902A, 902Bshould be positioned in top panel 904 in a way which is similar to thepositioning of bottom pass-through slot 906A, 906B in bottom panel 908.This is so a top pass-through slot 902A in one container 900A willcommunicate with a bottom pass-through slot 906B in the container 900Bimmediately on top of it. As in front slots 22, it is preferred that topand bottom slots 902A,B, 906A,B be offset from the middle of the paneland to be parallel to but offset from the vertical plane which the reelaxes will tend to occupy. Said another way, a plane containing thecenters of all pass-through slots 902-906 in the stack will be parallelto but spaced from the plane containing the reel axes in the stack.

The pass-through slots 902A,B, 906A,B permit cables from different reelsto exit out the top one of the slots 902B in common. By way of example,in FIG. 9 a first cable 910 originates from a lower cable reel 202A. Thecable 910 is fed through a pass-through slot 902A prior to the uppercontainer 900B being placed all the way onto the lower container 900A.The cable 910 is fed through the bottom pass-through slot 906B in theupper container 900B, and thence out the top pass-through slot 902B. Acable 912 originates from an upper reel 202B, and is simply threaded outof the top slot 902B. The wide extent of the slots 902A,B, 906A,B allowsmultiple cables 910, 912 (only two such shown here) to be pulled out ofthe top of the stack with little resistance and with little interferencewith each other.

FIG. 10 shows a two-wheeled dolly or hand truck 1000 adapted to receiveand hold at least one vertical stack of the containers 900A,B. The handtruck 1000 has a bottom shelf 1002 which will receive most or all of theweight of the containers, wheels 1004, a left vertical frame member 1006and a right vertical frame member 1008, both extending upwardly from theshelf 1002. The left and right vertical frame members 1006, 1008 may beterminated at their upper ends by a handle 1010 which may, as shown,join together the vertical frame members 1006, 1008.

The hand truck 1000 further includes horizontally disposed cross members1012, 1014, 1016 each of which join together and bridge vertical framemembers 1006 and 1008. The elevations of the cross members 1012, 1014and 1016 are chosen to be at about the centers of the first, second andthird containers stacked on the shelf 1002; the containers (such ascontainers 900A,B in FIG. 9) should therefore be of uniform height, evenif they can be of different widths. In the center of each elongatehorizontal cross member 1012-1016 there is formed a hole 1018A, 1018B,1018C for the receipt of a respective support rod, as will be describedbelow.

Preferably at the same elevations as horizontal cross members 1012-1016are left and right side retaining plates 1020, 1022. Each side retainingplate 1020 or 1022 is joined to one of the vertical frame members 1006and 1008, has a flat and vertical inwardly facing surface, and extendsforwardly therefrom in a direction orthogonal to the plane in whichcross members 1012-1016 reside. The retaining plates 1020, 1022 helpkeep the containers mounted the cart 1000 from sliding off in atransverse direction.

FIG. 11 shows cart 1000 as holding a single stack of the containers900A-900C. For this use a set of relatively short support rods 1100,1102 and 1104 are used to mount the containers 900A-900C to the cart1000. First, a container 900A is placed on shelf 1002. If verticaldispensing is desired from this stack, a cable 910 from container 900Ais threaded through a top pass-through slot such as 902A in FIG. 9, andthence into a bottom slot 906B in container 900B. Container 900B is thenstacked on container 900A. A cable or conductor 912 is threaded througha top pass-through slot 902B together with cable 910. Then both cables910, 912 are fed through a bottom pass-through slot (not shown; similarto slots 906A,B) in a third container 900C. Container 900C is thenplaced on top of container 900B. Cables 910 and 912, respectivelyoriginating from containers 900A and 900B, are joined by a further cableor conductor 1106 and all are threaded through a top pass-through slot902C.

To firmly secure the containers 900A-C to the hand truck 1000, rod 1100is inserted through arbor hole 28A, rod 1102 is inserted through arborhole 28B and rod 1104 is inserted through arbor hole 28C. The rods1100-1104 continue to be inserted through the caddy holes, reel flangeholes, and communicating reel passageways to and through the opposingcarton sides and into and through respective cross member holes 1018A,1018B and 1018C. The inserted ends of the rods 1100-1104 may be drilledto receive respective clevis pins (not shown) to prevent theirwithdrawal. At the other end thereof, each of the rods 1100-1104 has anenlargement 1106 (such as a disk) that is large enough to not beadmitted into a respective arbor hole 28A-C, and which is also largeenough to sufficiently distribute some of the weight of the loadedcontainer (which the rod enlargement 1106 may experience if the handtruck 1000 is tipped forwardly) throughout its disk area without tearingor “perforating through” the typically cardboard carton panel which willbe pressing against it.

FIG. 12 shows hand truck 1000 as loaded with two stacks of containers900A-C and 900D-F. The reel axis inside of container 900A should besubstantially coaxial with the reel axis inside of container 900D, andthis coaxial pairing should also take place for containers 900B, 900Eand 900C, 900F. This will create a continuous straight passageway for anaxial rod 1200, 1202 or 1204 from a cross member hole 1018A-C, throughall intervening carton walls, caddies, reel flanges and reelpassageways, and out an arbor hole 28 located on the remote side of theremoter one 900D-F (with respect to the cross member) of the twocontainers. Axial rods 1200-1204, which are in general similar to axialrods 1100-1104 but longer, can be inserted through respective ones ofthese continuous horizontal passageways. A remote end of each of theaxial rods 1200-1204 will have an enlargement like enlargement 1107 onrods 1100-1104, and a near end of the axial rods 1200-1204 will bedrilled to receive a respective clevis pin 1206 after the near e n d hasbeen inserted through a respective one of the cross member holes1018A-C.

The cables from the reels inside of containers 900A-C may be fed througha top pass-through slot 902C, after being threaded through zero, one ortwo intervening pairs of pass-through slots in the containers 900A-C,depending on the identity of the reel from which the cable is being paidoff. Alternatively, the cables from respective containers 900A-C may bethreaded in parallel out respective front slots 22A, 22B, 22C. Cablefrom containers 900D-F may similarly all be drawn through toppass-through slot 902F, or alternatively through the front slots 22D,22E and 22F thereof. The way in which cable is drawn from each stack maybe the same as the way used for the other stack, or intentionally may bechosen to be different.

The pass-through-slotted containers 900A-F may also be used with thefour-wheeled cart 500, with cables drawn out of top pass-through slotsin the top row of containers affixed together by top support rod 526.

In summary, a cable container has been provided in which a reel of cablerotates freely on caddies inside of a carton as cable is being drawn outof an offset elongate slot provided for this purpose. With the aid of anaxial support rod threaded through multiple ones of these containers,two or more such containers can be combined into a single mobile cablepulling unit. For larger jobs, a cart is provided by which multiple rowsof such containers are secured to the cart by respective axial supportrods. A dolly or hand truck is also provided to create one or two stacksof these containers, and pass-through slots may be formed in the stackedcontainers to permit the pulling of all cables in the stack in avertical direction out of one top slot.

While illustrated embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed and illustrated in the appended drawings, the presentinvention is not limited thereto but only by the scope and spirit of theappended claims.

1. An assembly of electrical or communications cable containers,comprising: a first container including a first carton enclosing a firstcable reel with cable wound thereon, the first carton having a pluralityof panels including a bottom panel with opposed left and right sides, afront side, and a bottom elongate pass-through slot formed in the bottompanel; an upstanding left panel extending from the left side of thebottom panel; an upstanding right panel extending from the right side ofthe bottom panel so as to be parallel and spaced from the left panel; afront panel having an elongated slot and extending from the front sideof the bottom panel; a top panel having a top elongate pass-throughslot, the top panel being parallel to the bottom panel; a secondcontainer including a second carton enclosing a second cable reel withcable wound thereon, the second carton including a second top panelhaving a second top elongate pass-through slot; the first containerbeing stacked on the second container such that a location of the bottompass-through slot of the first carton matches a location of the toppass-through slot of the second carton, a cable end from the secondcable reel fed through the top pass-through slot of the second carton,the bottom pass-through slot of the first carton, and the toppass-through slot of the first carton.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinrespective centers of the top and bottom pass-through slots are formedin a plane which is offset from the axis.
 3. The system of claim 1,further comprising a first continuous straight passageway through thefirst container; a second continuous straight passageway through thesecond container; a cart for transporting the first and secondcontainers in their stacked configuration, the cart comprising a firstaxial rod passing through the first continuous straight passageway foraffixing the first container to the cart; and a second axial rod passingthrough the second continuous straight passageway for affixing thesecond container to the cart; wherein the first and second axial rodsmaintain the first and second containers in their stacked position,thereby retaining the top and bottom pass-through slots in their matchedlocations.
 4. A method of distributing electrical or communicationscables from a plurality of containers comprising the steps of: stackinga first container having a first carton and a first reel of cable on asecond, similar container having a second carton and a second reel ofcable; responsive to the step of stacking, disposing a bottompass-through slot formed in a bottom panel of the first carton to bealigned with a top pass-through slot formed in a top panel of the secondcarton; feeding a cable from the second container through the toppass-through slot in the second carton; feeding the cable from thesecond container through the bottom pass-through slot of the firstcarton and into the first container; feeding an end of the cable fromthe second container out of the first container; feeding an end of acable from the first reel out of the first container; and paying out thecables from the first and second containers.
 5. The method of claim 4,further comprising the step of punching out the top and bottompass-through slots of the first and second cartons prior to the step ofstacking.
 6. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step oftransporting the first and second containers on a cart while the bottompass-through slot of the first carton and the top pass-through slot ofthe second carton are in alignment.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising the step of securing the first and second containers to thecart such that the bottom pass-through slot of the first container andthe top pass-through slot of the container are in alignment.
 8. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the step of feeding the cable from the secondreel out of the first container comprises the substep of feeding thecable end from the second reel out of the top pass-through slot of thefirst container; and wherein the step of feeding the cable from thefirst reel out of the first container comprises the substep of feedingthe cable end from the first reel out of the top pass-through slot ofthe first container.